When teaching phonics to young children, there are going to be times that they might have difficulty with certain areas. Since all children are different, they tend to need help in different areas. However, many children struggle with some of the same issues, making them easier to point out. In the case of the hardest phonics, usually the most difficult sounds for young children are words that involve a hard th, soft th, ch, sh, ng, r, wh and ck sounds in the words.
Red Cat Reading Phonics Videos and Books
In this day and age, kids love to use their computers and tablets so why not let them do it educationally? Red Cat Reading has amazing phonics books and other resources to teach phonics to children.
Check out our Top 8 Hardest Phonics video compilation!! At almost 12 minutes long, your kids will learn so much! You can even put it on repeat for double the phonics fun.
Identifying the Problem with Hard Phonics
The first thing to do for a child struggling is to identify the problem. This can be done with reviewing phonics the child already knows. Reading with the child and making notes of the words they’re having difficulty with is a good first step. This allows you to isolate the particular sounds that are giving your child problems. After you have identified the issue, you can work with your child’s teacher or come up with your own ideas at home for how to help your child to develop better skills.
Talk to Your Child’s Teacher
If your child goes to school, one thing that you can do to help your child is to talk to their teacher. If he or she has noticed that your child is having difficulty with some of the hardest phonics areas, they might be able to help you discover new ways to help your child at home. Your child’s teacher might be practicing a certain technique in the classroom that you can implement in your learning at home. Perhaps he or she might even have additional advice to offer. It might be easy for your child’s teacher to provide you with worksheets or reading materials that could make mastering these difficulties a lot easier for your child.
Practice Reading at Home
Perhaps the biggest thing that you can do to help your child master the difficult areas of phonics is to read together. Reading together allows you to see where your child is struggling, and come up with a plan to help. Choose books that focus on the harder phonetic sounds, such as those with hard th, soft th, ch, sh, ng, r, wh, and ck sounds. The Red Cat Reading phonics program has plenty of books and videos that you and your child can explore together – all tailored towards a specific phonic sound.
Learn Slowly
Do not push your child. If he or she is struggling with one of the harder phonics sounds, allow them to learn at their own pace. Work with your child slowly so that he or she has a firm grasp of the sound before moving on. This will ensure that your child does not easily forget the sound that the letters make while working on other phonics sounds.
Use Media to Help
The use of media, such as videos, flashcards, and even audio, can really help a child learn. Since all children learn differently, you have to experiment with your child to find out which media is most helpful. Writing words down on flashcards that have a certain letter sound in them is one idea. This allows your child to see the letters used in a variety of words and gives them the chance to see the letters being used in the words. You can accompany this method with an audio recording of you saying these words and using them in sentences to allow your child to practice even when you aren’t in the room with them.
Don’t Stop Learning
When your child finally masters the use of some of the harder phonetic sounds listed above, don’t stop there! Encourage your child to use their new knowledge every day. Read books together. Have them spell words for you and write them down. Talk about new words together. Keep using flashcards and workbooks.
Keep up the good work with your child, and he or she will gain a better understanding of the words and their spellings.
〜 Kelly Gunderman